Left Behind
by v-volatile
Summary: A visionary out to join Morpheus, this man sees a little more than most do. Features some new characters & NeoTrinity shipping as well.


Running, running, running, always running. Trinity paused to snatch a black Nokia cell phone from the hand of a businessman dressed in a $900 suit. When could she stop running? Speed dial...555-8381. "Tank. Where the hell do I get out?"  
  
"There's a pay phone on the corner of Dell and Wood. Dammit, where are you going, Trinity? You just passed it! Turn around!"  
  
"I'm going to get Neo. I don't leave the Matrix until I find him. Thanks, Tank," she said as she threw the cell phone into the path of a speeding car. Battery acid spewed onto the pavement as it crushed under the pressure of the wheels.  
  
Running, running, running. Where are you, Neo? She thought frantically, rounding the corner of one street to find herself face-to-face with an agent. Holy hell! Trinity pulled out a fully loaded 9mm Glock for protection and simultaneously cartwheeled off the wall to execute a perfectly aimed crescent kick to the agent's head. He crumpled to the ground as Trinity landing running and sped past him onto another street. He must be a younger, newer program. Neo blew away all the older ones...suddenly, a pay phone began ringing. Trinity entered the booth, gun ready, eyeing the empty, dark streets around her, expecting an agent to show at any minute, ready to blow her senseless.  
  
"Hello? Tank?" Trinity said, warily looking about.  
  
"Hell yeah, it's me. Neo should be down 4th street, to your left, standing by the door to an abandoned hotel building. You're welcome." Before Trinity could whisper thank you, the line went dead. Neo...Trinity dropped the phone and raced down the dark street, skidding to a stop in front of the old hotel.  
  
"Hey," Neo said as he took hold of Trinity by the forearms and pulled her into the shadows, administering a bone-crushing hug and a thorough kiss. Back on the Nebuchadnezzar, Morpheus, Phase, Tank, Orion, and Slip laughed as they watched the two hug. Everyone knew Trinity's only weakness was Neo, and when the two were around each other she became a completely different person.  
  
"Hey yourself, Neo. Let's go. There's a pay phone up this street," Trinity said, grinning, as Neo released her. They began jogging to the corner. When they reached the phone, Neo kissed Trinity for good luck.  
  
"You first," he said, handing her the headset. As she picked up the phone, her form vanished and the phone was left hanging. As soon as Neo replaced it, it rang again. He grabbed it and vanished in the same manner…just as two agents rounded the corner from the direction of the run-down hotel.  
  
"Shit. They're gone," the older agent said, sliding her handgun into its holster.  
  
***  
  
"Very good, Neo, Trinity," Morpheus said, smiling and showing some of his oddly spaced teeth. Tank had removed his headset and was smiling at Neo the same way Morpheus was behind his back. Trinity was fighting laughter.  
  
"Well, now we know where this girl is," Slip said, running a hand through his short, spiky black hair. Trinity and Neo had entered the Matrix to search out and speak with a woman named Era, who had been spotted as a candidate for being unplugged. Neo was worried about her, since she was 23 and older than the usual age for unplugging, much like him when he was first taken out of the Matrix.  
  
"Shut up, Slip. She isn't a girl anymore. She's 23," Trinity said smoothly, eyeing Slip's annoyed expression. With that she sauntered off, sliding her arm around Neo's waist and heading towards the galley for a snack of single- celled protein and artificial amines.  
  
"She's really important, you know. We are supposed to a have a couple more people on the Neb's crew anyway, and you'd better not laugh at her because you might have to help us free her mind. What bothers you about Era anyhow? She's just a hacker, like the rest of us," Tank said to Slip, shrugging while he typed at the Operator's console.  
  
"It's not Era. I haven't even met her. It's Trinity and Neo. Seeing them together pisses me off, not to mention Morpheus letting them do anything they want, no matter what," Slip said contemptuously, walking away down the bridge and leaving Tank to his typing.  
  
"Whatever, Slip. But watch your back… it just so happens Neo and Trinity could kick your ass alone or together," Tank muttered, eyes roving the green and black coded screens before him as he surveyed the Matrix.  
  
***  
  
"What the hell is wrong with Slip? He doesn't even know Era and he's already belittling her," Trinity said to Neo, peeling off her 4-strap combat boots and gray socks and throwing them in the corner. Neo did likewise on the other side of the room.  
  
"Oh, he doesn't care about Era. It's us…he's jealous of us. Phase doesn't even bother to acknowledge his existence, and he's been following her around like a puppy since the day we unplugged her," Neo said, jumping up and down a little to restore the circulation to his feet. Being in the Matrix for a while always caused certain limbs to go numb, he'd noticed.  
  
"Maybe you're right. He just wants someone to fall in love with him. How pathetic," Trinity muttered, lying down on the thin mattress. Since the day Trinity and Neo had rescued Morpheus from the hands of Agent Smith, no one had commented when Neo began frequently sleeping in Trinity's room and vice- versa. They'd just assumed that after seeing the two of them kiss after Neo woke up from the rescue mission it was perfectly all right. That was one of the good things about living on the Nebuchadnezzar- privacy was granted.  
  
"Hmm. I don't care about Slip anymore, though. He knows quite well both of us can easily kick his ass, both in the Construct and the Matrix," Neo said, lying down next to Trinity and enveloping her in his arms. Soon, after a few minutes of staring at the ceiling, they both fell asleep, Trinity's head on Neo's shoulder and Neo's hand on Trinity's arm.  
  
***  
  
Trinity and Neo were sitting with Phase, Orion and Slip in the galley eating some single-celled protein for breakfast. Neo kept trying kiss Trinity on the cheek and Trinity kept playfully telling him to stop it and pushing him away. Mostly, though, she was just laughing. Suddenly the galley door banged open and everyone looked up to find Morpheus standing in the hatchway.  
  
"We're waking up Era today, people. When you're all done with breakfast, Orion will take us up to broadcast depth and we're going in to get her," Morpheus said, grinning at Trinity and Neo when he turned to leave.  
  
"That shit again. Look at them, Tank," Slip muttered, watching the gleeful look pass between Morpheus and Trinity. Tank waited until the others had emptied they trays into the sink and filed out until he turned to Slip.  
  
"Look, Slip. I don't have a girlfriend and I'm not whining like you. This has nothing to do with Era, I know it. Just get over yourself and follow orders like the rest of us. Today is for real, remember?" Tank said, emptying his own dish and jogging out the door to join the rest of his crewmembers.  
  
After Tank started his monitors, Tank and Trinity went around plugging in their crewmembers. Trinity always went into the Matrix last, as Morpheus' second. First Morpheus, who didn't blink, then Phase, who cringed a bit, then Slip who got an extra hard shove from Trinity and cringed also. Then Neo, with a brief whisper of 'good luck' from Trinity. Then Orion, whose face remained peaceful. Trinity climbed into her chair and was plugged in by Tank, who then slipped on his headset and rang the phone in the room where the crew of the Neb was in the Matrix.  
  
"We're in." Morpheus' slightly distorted tone reached Tank and he nodded wordlessly, switching to view the group of black-clad fighters on his first monitor. Era sat on his second screen, working on her computer, unaware of who was coming for her.  
  
"This is it. Era's in a nearby apartment building. We all go there together. Then Neo and Trinity will bring her down. Slip and Phase, you sit up front to drive to my building across town. Orion, you're with me. We're watching everyone's backs," Morpheus said. Outside, two motorcycles and a sleek black sedan waited. Neo and Morpheus leapt onto the motorcycles and the rest got into the sedan, Phase at the wheel. Orion and Slip drew their guns. Trinity loaded hers and held it just below the window, ready for anything.  
  
"We're here," Phase said lightly, pulling out her gun and getting out to stand near the car with Slip, while Morpheus and Orion went into the apartment building, just behind Neo and Trinity, who entered with guns hidden, a determined look on their faces.  
  
"So good so far," Tank said, watching his screens back on the Nebuchadnezzar.  
  
"Here's the plan: Draw her out, inconspicuously and we'll escort you downstairs, because after we get a hold of Era the agents are bound to be on our tail," Morpheus said, nodding as they all got out on the 4th floor.  
  
"Era, open up. It's us," Neo called, banging on the door.  
  
"Who?" Era said, opening the door and seeing the drawn guns all four people were holding.  
  
"What the hell is-" Before the girl could finish her sentence, Morpheus and Orion had her back in the elevator, which was not far down the hall.  
  
"Just calm down. We're going to take you to Morpheus' building across town, where you can decide for yourself," Trinity said, leading Era into the sedan. Orion and Morpheus leapt onto the motorcycles and they began moving.  
  
"Decide? Decide what? Who are you people? You never said you were taking me anywhere!" Era protested, trying to shake off Trinity's grip.  
  
"Neo. Manage her," Trinity said as Neo held Era still. Trinity flipped open her phone. "Tank? Do we have a bug? No? Thanks."  
  
"Relax. Things get much worse if you're scared, trust me. You're very valuable to us, and very dangerous right now, so just calm down. We wouldn't hurt you," Neo said, slowly relaxing his grip on Era's shoulders. She sat back, thinking this over.  
  
"Neo. We have a situation. Look." Slip said in a worried tone as he pointed out the darkly tinted window to two figures in suits moving stealthily down the street, each wearing a tan earpiece. Agents. One was a woman who wore the same suit as her male companion. Suddenly, the woman glanced in Neo's direction. Neo saw her say something to her friend as they ran across the street towards the car and two motorcycles.  
  
"Holy. Shit." Trinity said. "Here, Slip. Keep Era safe while Neo and Morpheus and I take care of this- these- things," Trinity spat, flipping Slip her extra Glock and smiling without humor. She stepped out into a rain of gunfire. Neo was already on his feet next to Morpheus, speedily emptying clips on the agents. The female agent leapt at Trinity with a Matrix- enhanced uppercut, only to be met by a one-two combination to her solar plexus. When the agent doubled over, Trinity allowed no room for error as she connected a knee to the woman's face and a flying right roundhouse to her head.  
  
"Neo! Finish her off!" Trinity shouted, whipping out her remaining gun and taking Neo's place next to Morpheus who was busily attacking the male agent.  
  
"Okay, here goes," Trinity said, leaping in behind the male agent and forcefully kicking him in the back as she tossed her gun to Morpheus, who emptied the ammo into the agent's back. Soon, the bloody agent's form morphed into a nondescript businessman wearing a similar suit.  
  
Nearby, Neo was causing the self-destruct of the female agent's hard coding. Back on the Nebuchadnezzar, Tank grinned as he watched the Agent fall to pieces under Neo's pressures. Soon, Neo stepped out of the agent's broken form whole, grinning as the air around him took on a shimmery, opalescent quality.  
  
"Let's go," Morpheus commanded, as he returned Trinity's gun and she holstered it. The three of them returned to their respective vehicles.  
  
"Phase, gun it. We might get intercepted again, you know," Neo said, reloading his weapon. The car sped away, the two motorcycles still in front of the sedan.  
  
"Want this back?" Slip asked, frightened and awed by Neo and Trinity's performance. It was the first time he'd seen them in serious combat inside of the Matrix. He held out Trinity's heavy 9mm Glock.  
  
"That's okay. Keep it- I have my own and I can easily get another gun in the Construct," Trinity said, jamming a new clip into her pistol.  
  
"We're here." Morpheus and Orion's cycles stopped. Everyone got out of the car and drew their guns.  
  
"Slip, Phase, guard the door when we reach the room. There are probably agents nearby. Neo, Orion, do locations...it's a pity Tank can't join us, hmm? Trinity, you and I will play doctor, as it were. Era, come with me." Morpheus said.  
  
They ascended a flight of stairs to arrive at the door of a large room filled with complicated looking medical equipment, several telephones, and one chair, presumably for the patient.  
  
"Alright. Era, I am asking you to choose whether you want to leave the Matrix and see its true nature or stay here in this world. If you take this blue pill," Morpheus said quietly, opening his left hand to reveal a small blue gel cap, "Then you will wake up in your room, in your bed, and remember nothing. Nothing. If you take this red pill," Morpheus continued, holding a small red gel cap in his right hand, "Then you will be freed from the Matrix and awakened to see what the Matrix is."  
  
Era looked warily at the two pills.  
  
"Can I go back? If I choose wrong?" She asked, staring between one and the other.  
  
"No. I cannot send you back; you cannot change your mind after you take the pill. I will tell you the same thing I have told everyone that I have helped to free: I only offer you the truth. That alone, nothing more or less. Only the truth," Morpheus stated, extending his hands towards Era.  
  
"I choose the red pill. Freedom." Era said softly, lifting the pill from Morpheus' hand and swallowing it without any water.  
  
"Very good. We expected that," Neo said, smiling charitably at Era and moving to stand behind the location console. Slip and Phase shut the doors, moving to stand in from of them and readying their weapons.  
  
"Now. Calm down, or you will find this very unpleasant, Era," Trinity said, taking the woman's sweater and throwing it aside. She let Era lie down on the battered chair and position herself before attaching adhesive electrodes to the inside of Era's elbows, the side of her neck, and the inside of her wrist.  
  
"That pill is a trace. We use it to find your signal inside the real world. Try not to be shocked when you wake up," Trinity said, pushing Era's head onto the headrest and nodding to Neo and Orion.  
  
"What? Explain..." Era began. But suddenly, her eyes began to close and her head lolled back as her neck became limp and weak.  
  
"She's fading. Hurry, Orion! Get us a location," Morpheus said, pointing to a spot on his monitor as Trinity came to stand beside him.  
  
"Got it! Tri-sector 34, part 45927. Let's go," Orion announced a moment later. Era had blacked out. Neo was breathing a little easier, seeing her transition and waking up was much easier than his.  
  
Ring. The phone was picked and replaced, even though it continued to ring. First Morpheus disappeared, then Neo, then Trinity, then Orion, then Phase, and lastly, Slip.  
  
***  
  
"Unnnhh. My neck," Phase said, rubbing her neck and pushing her medium length red hair into place.  
  
"Same here," added Slip, rubbing his neck as well. Morpheus was already up, and consulting with Tank about Era's awakening. Suddenly, everything lurched. The ship groaned into motion. Trinity grabbed Neo by the shoulder to keep from falling over when the sudden movement came.  
  
"Let me guess- we're going to Tri-sector 34?" Slip asked, going to join Tank.  
  
"Um-hm," Neo affirmed, walking off to prepare the medical bay for Era's imminent arrival. Trinity followed. Soon, everyone would be pitching in on 'doctor's watch', mostly just to keep on eye on the rebuilding of Era's atrophied muscles.  
  
Suddenly, a ceiling hatch opened up and a mechanical crane set Era's cold, pale unconscious form onto the clean white, backlit medical bay bed.  
  
"Tell me four things about Era. Things you know now, Neo," Trinity said, attaching an IV to Era's arm plug after covering her with a pale blue blanket.  
  
"Well...she's beautiful, she's young and she's the best simulation programmer on the North American continent, isn't she? I can't think of a fourth one, Trin," Neo said, opening a package of sanitized silver needles from the cabinet above the bed. He set them in a tray of acid and began inserting them around Era's wrists. Neo had learned intense, targeted acupuncture was the first step to recreating atrophied muscles a long time ago, when Slip was unplugged.  
  
"Here's another thing about Era. She's perfect for Slip! If we get them together, it could dampen his jealously for us and make him more cooperative, couldn't it?" Trinity said craftily, helping Neo with the needles.  
  
"Oh. I see. That's perceptive, Trin. What do you say we go eat now and inform Slip he has first doctor's watch, hmm?" Neo said, grinning and setting down the remainder of his needles to go wash his hands.  
  
"Right. And we should tell him to watch Era's body more than the sensors, because... sensors can't tell you everything, can they?" Trinity said with her own grin, drying her hands and following Neo out the door to hook her arm about his waist.  
  
***  
  
"God, you are beautiful, and I sure hope you can't hear me," Slip whispered, staring down into Era's passive face. He was halfway into his portion of doctor's watch, completely unaware he was falling in nicely with Neo and Trinity's plan. The light was making Era's face appear ghostly and perfect and Slip found he was spending more time looking at her than at the monitor in front of him.  
  
"Slip? You should see this," Phase's voice reached him from outside the medical bay door. As he hurried out to see what the matter was, he saw that the rest of his crewmembers gathered around Tank, who was seated at his Operator's console, staring intently at a monitor.  
  
"What?" Slip asked, slightly annoyed. Suddenly, a man appeared on the screen to the left of Tank. He wore a black coat, black slacks and a gray T- shirt. In his hand, he held a handgun. Someone pressed a button to add audio. Slip directed his attention to the screen as the man began speaking.  
  
"Morpheus? Trinity? Neo? Is that you?" The man said, leaning in on the screen.  
  
"Who..." Trinity's eye widened.  
  
"I need your help. I'm Romy. Era left me behind. I know you have her and I want to come to. I want out of the Matrix. It's so horrible in here. Please free me. If you want my location, I'll send you a coded transmission tonight. That's it. Say hello to Era for me. Goodbye," Romy said and walked out of view.  
  
"What the heck?" Neo asked, turning to Morpheus, Trinity, and Tank in turn.  
  
"Oh, some crazed programmer that knows Era wants to join her. We get these types of things all the time, you know. Should we respond, Morpheus? Trace his video call?" Tank asked, turning to his leader.  
  
"Trace the transmission. By the way, take watch tonight, and give Phase your turn at the console tomorrow morning. This guy might actually be serious. He does have a gun..." Morpheus said, trailing off.  
  
"Right whatever. How's Era, Slip?" Trinity said brightly, turning a vicious smile on Slip's rapidly retreating form.  
  
"She's good, thanks," Slip said quickly, practically running into the medical bay. Trinity and Neo began laughing as soon as they got out of sight.  
  
"Do you think Romy actually wants to be unplugged? Or does he just miss Era?" Neo asked and he and Trinity ambled down the Neb's main deck.  
  
"Um. Maybe he is serious. If he can send a coded transmission without agents intercepting it and nailing him, then he has a chance with us, I suppose," Trinity said, shrugging. "By the way. Era starts training tomorrow. Want to help?" She continued.  
  
"Sure...or should we let Slip do it?" Neo asked, mock seriously, which sent them into gales of laughter again.  
  
  
  
***  
  
"What is this? Where am I? Romy" Era asked, slowly sitting up, still groggy from having slept for a few days straight. She took in her surroundings: a dark, gray room sporting a metal door, a desk, one cabinet, a low bed with a thin mattress and brown sheets. She moved her arm to rub her neck and felt an IV needle move in her arm. She gently removed it, running her fingers over the metal plug into which it had been inserted. She felt her other arm, the back of her neck, her lower back. She had these metal plugs all over her body. But the most shocking thing was her hair...her long, pretty blonde hair had been reduced to some short, two- inch long spikiness on her head. Whoa.  
  
"Hi. Time to meet everyone, Era," Slip said, opening the door and walking in to turn off the IV.  
  
"What happened to me? Who's everyone?" She asked, looking at Slip questioningly. It was all he could do not to fall over.  
  
"Welcome to the real world. Morpheus will explain the plugs. I have them to, see?" Slip said, lifting his sleeve to show her the plug on the inside of his right arm. "'Everyone' is the rest of the crew. We've been looking forward to having you join us," Slip said with what he hoped was a charming smile, leading her out of her room and down a hallway, onto the bridge.  
  
The crew was standing in a clump near Tank and his monitors. They all smiled a little seeing how Slip practically glowed when Era talked to him.  
  
"Like you already know, I am Morpheus. This is the Nebuchadnezzar, my ship. It's a hovercraft. You're on the bridge now, and this is the Core, where we broadcast our pirate signal and enter the Matrix," Morpheus said, nodding solemnly to Trinity.  
  
"I'm Trinity, Morpheus' second in command," Trinity said, nodding.  
  
"I'm Neo, Trinity's...ummm...I'm just Trinity's, you could say. I'm also mankind's secret weapon," Neo said, grinning sheepishly and blushing. Trinity elbowed him in the side and began to blush too. Even Era smiled.  
  
"I'm Orion. Nothing special, I just work here," Orion said, grinning.  
  
"I'm Phase," Phase said simply, making no elaboration.  
  
"I'm Tank, 100% human, born in the last human city on earth, never a machine's slave," Tank said with a grin. "I'm also the Operator," he finished.  
  
"And I'm Slip- your guide and trainer. I'm pretty much new here too, by the way," Slip said, looking Era in the eyes for the first time.  
  
"Thank you. Now, Era, come with me and Tank will direct us to the Construct. I have some explaining to do," Morpheus said, taking a deep breath, remembering how Neo had reacted to his first visit in the Construct.  
  
"This shall go nicely...hm? By the way, Mr. Secret Weapon, what the hell was that about being mine? You don't even have the proper euphemism, do you?" Trinity muttered, taunting Neo under her breath.  
  
"Shh..." Neo said, looking around furtively.  
  
  
  
***  
  
"Wake up. Wake up! WAKE UP!!!" Slip almost shouted, standing over Era's sleeping form.  
  
"What? I'm so tired. Go away, dammit." Era rolled over and covered her head with the pillow.  
  
"I can't go away because you still have a week of training to do. And you also got a call from a guy in the Matrix named Romy. You know him?" Slip asked, hoping this would rouse Era.  
  
"HOLY SHIT! Romy? Was it him? Are you sure?" Era leapt out of bed, nearly knocking Slip over in her rush, grabbing a sweater and pulling on her boots. She was out the door in ten seconds flat. Slip carefully shut the hatch to her room and followed after her, sighing to himself.  
  
"Morpheus? Where's Morpheus?" Era asked everyone she could find, running around the main deck.  
  
"What? Slow down, Era," Morpheus said, appearing for the upper deck. As he walked down a flight of stairs she ran up to him.  
  
"Did you get a call from Romy?"  
  
"Yes. Why?"  
  
"He's my brother. You have to free him."  
  
"We can't; he isn't ready. Why?"  
  
"He was more ready than I was. He sees the coding of the Matrix. Once, he looked into a subway train and he told me he started seeing flashes of green and black on certain passengers. He wants to leave the Matrix, more than even I did, and here I am. Please, you have to help him," Era cried imploringly.  
  
"No. The Neb already has a full crew. He is not essential and we have no place for him here. Your brother is safe in the Matrix, Era, trust me," Morpheus said, his interest in Romy escalating even as he calmed her.  
  
"He isn't. The agents came for him once and he had to run! Please! Get him out," she said, her voice now a whisper. "Just get him out..."  
  
By this time, the entire crew had stopped what they were doing and turned to stare. Orion was paused on the stairs with Phase, each holding a welding mask. Neo and Trinity stood behind Tank's screens, staring as well.  
  
"What?" Tank said, breaking the frozen silence. "What? He's your brother?"  
  
"Yes," Era said softly, eyeing the grating on the floor.  
  
"No wonder he said you left him behind. He thought we were taking him to. Last night he sent us something, like he said he would, Morpheus," Tank said, pointing to his center monitor and typing a few commands. A line of green type appeared on the screen.  
  
***If you value life, you will help me get free. I HATE this place. I hate looking at all these people and knowing they are slaves. Knowing that I am a slave. You helped my sister; I thank whatever higher power for that. NOW HELP ME, please. I want out. I am being followed, hounded. I run day and night. Even if I cannot serve under you, Morpheus, please, somehow, some way, get me out of the Matrix. This is not a false alarm. This is reality now. I can see it whenever I look around. I stare hard enough and there they are, agents made from nothing but lines of code. Silver and black skeletons. I stare long enough and the walls erupt into coding, people grow metal holes in their arms and backs. There is something wrong here. FREE ME, PLEASE.***  
  
"Oh god. Oh god," Era said, after reading the message. "He didn't say it was that bad. He didn't tell me..." She trailed off, running into another deck, seeking seclusion.  
  
"How does he know this? Tank, did you trace that?" Morpheus asked, leaning down to study the transmission.  
  
"I did, and it's from the same source that he gave us down here," Tank said, shrugging and pointing farther down in the message.  
  
"Maybe he is serious," Phase said, speaking up for once.  
  
"Yeah...maybe this Romy really does want out. I know before you got me, Morpheus, I sensed something was wrong but I never, ever saw anything that concrete," Orion put in, furrowing his brow.  
  
"I believe him," Trinity said looking at the screen again. "If he can tell agents from other normal humans just by looking, then I think he's worth the effort,"  
  
***  
  
They were going that day to get Romy. After a while, Era's pleading had gotten to the crew. And they were brother and sister...weren't they?  
  
"Shall we?" Trinity asked, turning to Neo.  
  
"Shall we what? Take Slip with us to unplug Romy or ask Morpheus is we're allowed to go?" Neo asked, lying completely still in bed, despite the fact that Trinity was fully dressed, and fully awake, sitting on the floor next to the bed in her room. Neo had said he was too tired to get up, so he just lay on the edge of the thin mattress and stared at the ceiling.  
  
"Take Slip with us. Hello? We already asked Morpheus if we could go. He already said yes, and not to let anyone get killed. Is Phase coming?" Trinity fiddled with the frayed hem of her threadbare shirt.  
  
"Um. Yes. And so is Orion. We'll need the help. But no Morpheus..." Neo trailed off, trying in vain to sit up.  
  
"Nope, no Morpheus, because he doesn't even have to lift a finger for Romy. The first contact was also addressed to us, you know, so why bother the Captain about it?" Trinity said, slightly smiling while she reached out a hand and lifted Neo to his feet. He still looked zoned.  
  
"Ah, yes. Neo. My beautiful, lazy, half-asleep savior. I'm going to go eat now," Trinity said, kissing Neo on the cheek and heading out of the room.  
  
Meanwhile, Neo lay back in Trinity's bed, wondering where the hell he ended up with such luck.  
  
***  
  
"Alright. Have a good time, guys...and remember I can always see you, so- Neo. Don't let me see you and Trinity in the corner someplace," Tank said, adding a quiet comment for Neo just before inserting him into the Matrix. Phase, on Neo's left, laughed a bit, earning an extra hard shove from Trinity.  
  
"Hm. Thank you, Tank, for your insights," Trinity said, lying down and closing her eyes. She opened them in the Matrix. This time a dark alley, so secluded it looked like nighttime in the alley when it was daytime elsewhere.  
  
"Address? Tank, where is this guy?" Trinity spoke into her black cell phone and the five of them- Phase, Orion, Slip, Trinity, and Neo- strode down the sidewalk. Patrons hurried out of the way of the black-clad crew. Slip grinned- he loved the influence.  
  
"At 23735 Parkston Street, apartment number 12 on the 3rd floor. Big tan building, with a sign out front. Have a nice day," Tanks said, but before he finished saying 'nice', Trinity had told the others the address and they were running to their destination.  
  
***  
  
"Era..." Oh. Romy sat in his apartment, hacking furiously. He was about to call Era on his fourth line when he remembered Morpheus had come, taken Era in the real world and left him to live in this cesspool he calls the Matrix. Taken her, left him behind. She left him behind.  
  
"Open up!" A strong female voice came from the door, accompanied by a few loud bangs. Agents? Romy went to the peephole. Five people, all dressed in black, stood at his door. Romy stared harder- when no coding appeared, he knew they were humans. The door slammed open.  
  
"Thank you for coming to get me. Let's go," He said, walking out fast and not looking back, not caring about his shitty apartment or his slave friends. This day was a happy one- he was going to be free.  
  
"You sure about going so fast?" Phase asked, worried. Romy put his hands on her shoulders and stared at her with his ice blue eyes.  
  
"I've waited all my life for this. When I stop seeing my friends work as slaves..." Romy said, fixing Phase with a look she found intense and beautiful, though a little scary at the same time.  
  
"Thank you," Romy said when they began moving again. Trinity stopped and offered him a blue pill and a red pill.  
  
"Red, you come with us; blue, you stay in the Matrix," She said simply, watching as he swallowed the red pill dry and threw the blue pill on the ground.  
  
"Look. An Agent. There," Romy said urgently, pointing down the street and lowering his voice, trying to look inconspicuous.  
  
"How do you know?" asked Orion, scanning the crowds.  
  
"I can see him in code. Ah! It hurts my eyes. Something just changed about him..." Romy said, trailing off when he saw Neo run for the agent purposefully.  
  
"Wait! Stop him! He'll be killed!" Romy gasped, watching Neo's progress. They had left the building to emerge onto a busy street, full of pedestrian traffic.  
  
"No, he won't." Trinity said shakily, restraining Romy from following Neo.  
  
"Damn things...can't they just figure out they can't evolve at the last minute?" Neo muttered, running faster. He whirled the agent around by the shoulder and delivered a fast uppercut to his face, along with several roundhouse kicks and a flying kick to the neck to top it all off.  
  
The other four crewmembers and Romy stood stock still, watching, waiting. Trinity held her breath- whatever had changed in that agent was making him stronger. Finally, after ten minutes of brutal fighting,  
  
"We have to help him. Get your guns, people," Trinity said, drawing both her Glocks and running to Neo. With the combined firepower of Orion, Trinity, Phase, and Slip, they managed to wound the agent bad enough that he morphed and took on another host. They used the well-needed time to run.  
  
"Damn, can he dodge bullets," Romy said, shaking his head while they sprinted for Morpheus' building. He didn't notice Phase's smile.  
  
"Here we are," Trinity said a moment later. With her leading the way, they ran up 2 flights of stairs and into a big dark room full or equipment. Soon they had settled Romy in the chair and hooked him up to various sensors.  
  
"Here we go. Try to relax, Romy, and you might see your sister," Phase said, grinning seductively at him. That was the last thing he saw before he woke up in the real world.  
  
***  
  
Romy sat up in his pod in the real world, pushing at the plastic top. It broke. He sat up, vomited liquid out of his stomach and threw aside the tube that had previously been going through his mouth. Instead of being awed at the endless rows and columns of pods around him, he screamed into the eternity,  
  
"I KNEW IT! I SAW THIS COMING, YOU GODDAMN MONSTERS! I KNEW IT!" They were his last words before a machine unplugged the cords from the metal holes in his body and dropped him out of his pod, sending him flying through a metal tube and out into a sea of similar liquid. Just before Romy went under is the sticky water down came a rope from a hole in the sky to lift him aboard the Nebuchadnezzar.  
  
***  
  
"Romy. It's me. Wake up. Romy!" Era stood bent over him. He awoke with a smile and gave her a hug.  
  
"Good morning, sunshine. Is there any sunshine down here?" Romy asked jokingly. Wincing, he pulled out his IV needle and rolled out of bed. He took in his surroundings. A small dark room, with a low bed, a desk, one cabinet and a metal hatch-like door. The same as all the other quarters on the ship.  
  
"Era. When I was in the columns, in my pod, I saw the one next to me was empty. Someone had ripped through the top of it...could I find out who it was next to me?" Romy asked, nonchalantly rolling his neck, unsurprised by the holes in his arms and neck and lower back. It was expected, he thought.  
  
"Maybe. I'll ask Slip and Tank for you, okay?" When Era stepped out of his room, Romy pulled on a threadbare shirt over the one he already was wearing and followed after her.  
  
"Hello, Romy," Morpheus said, a slight smile on his face.  
  
"Hello Morpheus. Thank you. No more code, no more slaves, no more. You have no idea how great that is," Romy said with feeling, nodding politely to the captain of the Nebuchadnezzar.  
  
"Ah, your ship, the Nebuchadnezzar," Romy continued, strolling around the main deck.  
  
"Yes. With a core, many consoles, and a full crew, now that you've joined us," Morpheus said, smiling still.  
  
"You...Tank, is that it? Yes. Can I find out who was in the pod next to me, in the columns? It was empty when I woke up because someone had torn through it. I want to know who, please," Romy said. His voice quieted when he looked up and saw everyone staring at him.  
  
"You saw? Really? Weren't you shocked, when you woke up?" Phase asked incredulously, moving to stand next to Romy, gently touching his arm.  
  
"I wasn't shocked. I saw this coming a while back, Phase. But that empty pod...it made me curious," Romy said with a shrug, smiling a little.  
  
"What? WHAT? Maybe we should start you training, hmm?" Tank said, staring wide-eyed at Romy. Even wearing a baggy shirt and unflattering pants and huge boots, Romy still looked thin and lithe and quite...understanding, Phase thought to herself.  
  
"Right, but I'll need to talk to you later, Romy," Morpheus said.  
  
"No. Talk to me now, please," Romy said, looking Morpheus in the eye.  
  
"Alright...well, answer me this: how did you know about the empty pod? Why weren't you shocked upon waking up? How can you see code? And what does it take to surprise you?" Morpheus demanded.  
  
"Calm down, one at a time. I know about the pod because I turned and saw it, ripped and vacated, next to me. I wasn't shocked upon waking up because I had most of this figured out before you woke me up. It's intuition, Morpheus. Hard to believe, but hell, look at where I am now. I can see the code, because of two things: one, it is there, and two, I look harder that most people do, you know? It takes a lot to surprise me. I like knowledge because it seems very logical to me. I've learned all I can. And now, Tank, shall I learn more?" Romy said, as everyone stood stunned.  
  
"Training," he said, as a statement, not a question.  
  
"Ah. Yes. Forget I asked," Morpheus said, suddenly smiling wider than anyone had ever seen.  
  
The crew watched while Romy lay down and was plugged in without a single grimace or atom of discomfort. They all watched him go through the training programs faster than Tank's souped-up PC could load, stand and watching- rather impressed, rather shocked, and rendered silent.  
  
Except for Era, who couldn't stop smiling. 


End file.
